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10/08/2013

Teaching Children to Never Give Up On Their Dreams [Monsters University]



My husband and I have been married for over 15 years.  We were married at a young age and spent the first 12 years of our life together working hard to realize our dreams.  We were finishing college, buying a home, working towards career goals, and starting a family.  Our kids were too young to understand a lot of the challenges we faced at the time.  Now that they are older, most of the big life goals we set for ourselves have been reached and we have shifted our focus towards helping our kids learn to work for their own dreams.  If we didn't share our experiences with our kids, they might assume that all of the things we enjoy now came easily for us.  They wouldn't know about the mornings that started at 4am, student teaching all day, then heading to work in the evening, followed by a drive back to campus for night classes so that I could graduate early, all while pregnant!  But we want them to know that we worked hard to reach our goals, so we do share our stories with them.

In addition to sharing our own stories, we like to share the stories of other peoples with them as well.  Stories of people who didn't give up.  For my older children these examples take the shape of stories about real people like Helen Keller and Albert Einstein.  For my younger kids, we use books like The Little Engine That Could and movies like Monsters University to teach the same message.





We originally went to see Monsters University because we knew it would be funny, but we will watch the movie over and over again because it is a great story about the importance of believing in yourself.  You might have to take a path that you didn't plan, but that doesn't mean you should give up on your dreams.  Life isn't always going to be fair, but you can still reach your goals.  Mike studied and worked hard, but he was still kicked out of the MU School of Scaring, but he found another way to make his dream a reality.  He persevered!

Do you have a favorite story you like to share with your kids about perseverance?  Leave a comment with an example of how you believe in yourself and achieve your dreams and you will be entered to win a $50 Visa Gift Card and a Monsters University Blu-ray Combo Pack.  Monsters University will be available on Digital HD 10/8 & Blu-ray™ Combo Pack 10/29.



 Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry”"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post”
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 10/3/13 – 11/3/13.
Be sure to visit the Monsters University Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

69 comments:

Vel Criste said...

Amen! Love this movie a lot! In fact my whole family and I are dressing up as MU students for Halloween!!!!

Anonymous said...

Actually, it's the opposite here, my son is teaching us something about perseverance. :) He has set a goal for himself for the summer after his 8th grade year. He just started 5th grade.

He is working hard already to achieve his goal and we're there to cheer him on and to remind him to never give up. :)

Vel Criste said...

tweeted about it!https://twitter.com/velcriste

Jessi said...

I followed my dreams, graduated college, and established myself in a career more successful than I thought I would be at this point. Currently working on setting new goals!

eileen2664 said...

After many years of dreaming, many notebooks of plans, and lots of talking about it, my dream is finally starting to come to life. I get to plan parties for......pocket money (still dreaming of the day I can say I do it for a living!) webringtheparty.etsy.com

Jessi said...

tweeted! https://twitter.com/jawebb33/status/387756144782888960

Jen said...

I'm achieving my dream of having a family and partnering with my husband running in our own business. www.wrightcarsaz.com

Disneymum (Kristi) said...

I am achieving my goals and dreams by being the best teacher I can be and hopefully inspiring my students and own children to always follow their dreams and dream big!

s'mee said...

As a 6 yr old, my eldest child was diagnosed with a very rare blood disease that took him out of school for 7 years and limited his physical activities. Long story very short we helped him discover that he wasn't the only kid with something to over come, and that there is always someone who has it better and someone who has it worse. We taught him strategies to help him get through years of painful diagnostics and grueling treatments. Now as an adult he is living his dream of being a hero every day and he also finds time to volunteer within his own career and also for the Juvenal RA Assn. and has received honours for his work the past 3 years. He takes the lead now with adults and children, proving that disability, disease, and challenges can be overcome, if not recovered from, that you can always reach your goals, and being positive is key to that process.

Thanks for spreading the word about finding a way to succeed, no matter your circumstance, no matter your goal.

Disneymum (Kristi) said...

I tweeted also https://twitter.com/dismum/status/387768636804325376

s'mee said...

(Hope I am doing this correctly) Here's the tweet:
https://twitter.com/gottabesmee

Angie said...

We always planned to go to college. My parents said they could not finance college for us so I had to self - finance. I don't know how I did it, but I did. I knew I wanted to get a degree and to go out into the world to do what I loved - the thing was that I would need a degree. How did I do it? I worked two jobs for three summers, I applied for nearly every grant, scholarship and a couple of loans. I did only work study during the school year. One year I got a paid position that paid half my tuition. It wasn't easy, but I graduated from a private college and eventually paid off all those student loans.

I guess it's about teaching your kids to have persistence, to believe in the power of their dreams and abilities. To engage them in participating. Studies have been done that show that the kids who succeeded with their goal to graduate from college had at least ONE adult that BELIEVED in them - pushed them, championed them, loved them. Be the one...

Erica Ellis said...

We're getting ready to build our "dream" house. It's taken a lot of scrimping and saving to get here, I hope to teach my kids the value of money and hard work so they can do what they want with their money in the future.

Mami2jcn said...

I just keep my goal in mind and don't give up on it until I accomplish it.

mami2jcn at gmail dot com

Mami2jcn said...

tweet:

https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/387921719811244032

Courtney B said...

It takes a whole lot of work and commitment!

vanitizebaby@yahoo.com

Courtney B said...

tweet

https://twitter.com/MeandBells/status/387935626265260032

Elena said...

I believe in myself and achieve my dreams by working hard and being optimistic

elena150980@yahoo.com

Elena said...

https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/387959619152138240

elena150980@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I worked really hard and ended up getting a scholarship to play volleyball in college when I was told being only 5’3 it would NEVER happen. Hard work paid off! amypugmire@live.com

Unknown said...

tweet. amypugmire@live.com
https://twitter.com/1amypugmire/status/388055354480664576

Katie said...

I always start with the end in mind. Envisioning what I want to accomplish keeps me going when the path gets rough.

As far as teaching my kids about perseverance, you cannot beat the tortoise and hair! Slow and steady ALWAYS wins the race!

Ashlee said...

What a great concept! We're trying to teach our young-uns to not give up, whether they're learning how to tie their shoes or read books.

Jenni Price said...

This was a great movie! The kids and I saw it this summer in the theaters with a big bag of buttery popcorn! Achieving your dreams takes contentment in your heart...enjoying what your doing with great passion whether you make a dime on it or not. Passion will push you forward to keep trying :)

JC said...

I believe in myself because I know I am loved and I achieve my dream by expecting the hard way ahead and taking one bite at a time.

JC said...

-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/388497819629150208

Michelle said...

I'm constantly working on achieving my dreams. The biggest dream I've achieved so far is being a mom.

Michelle said...

https://twitter.com/kermie1975/status/388713643107287040

Unknown said...

Haven't achieved my dreams yet, but I stay positive and don't let others influence me in a negative way.
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com

Unknown said...

tweet - https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/389860050103058432
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com

Robin Wilson said...

I always wanted to be a teacher. Two weeks before I graduated high school life through me a curve and I was diagnosed with Lupus. I wasn’t able to go to college then or later, but later as a wife and mom (a dream I didn’t even know I had) I have fulfilled that dream. I “teach”, though it may be life lessons, without a degree.

zuzu.wilson(at)yahoo(dot)com

Robin Wilson said...

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Zuzuz_Petalz/status/392248009162883072

zuzu.wilson(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

I believe in my self and achieve my dreams by having positive self talk, and reflecting on all of the things I have been able to accomplish in the past.

Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

tweet--https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/392312402181509121

wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

Kelly Massman said...

Knowing that I had to pay for my graduate degree (and undergraduate), I worked as many as 3 jobs while going to school full time. It was hard, but it was worth it! Thanks kmassman gmail

Chelsey said...

I achieved my dreams because I reminded myself "just keep swimming... just keep swimming". I put myself through university and became a teacher (with debt that I have thankfully since paid off).

Chelsey said...

https://twitter.com/SowDandelions/status/392557526023012352

Erica best said...

dream i different for everyone and i am still working for them

Erica best said...

https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/391673556477554688

Kerry said...

I believe in myself with the power of prayer and positive thinking! These things can help you achieve anything!
nuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net

Kerry said...

tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/394613090093776896
nuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net

MCantu1019 said...

by believing in God and never giving up
MCantu1019 at aol dot com

mindingmomma said...

My husband has had to reinvent himself twice from active duty military to civilian to reservist and back to civilian. With moves and job changes at every turn. We always talk to our children about how God may not have the same idea for us every year, and that we need to adapt to our surroundings and learn to be content wherever we are and with whatever we are given.
mindingmomma at aol dot com

susan1215 said...

I started my own business while raising my children and I believed in my self and achieve my dreams by having positive self talk, and reflecting on all of the things I have been able to accomplish in the past.

s2s2 at Comcast dot net

susan1215 said...

https://twitter.com/susan1215/status/396730800369987585

s2s2 at Comcast dot net

Lisa Garner said...

I became a mom at for the first time at 18 and though I had lost out on my dream of becoming a nurse. It took years but with lots of dedication I finally was able to graduate from nursing school.

lisalmg25 at gmail dot com

Lisa Garner said...

I tweeted: https://twitter.com/lisalmg/status/396808116680921088

Betty C said...

My children have seen how I have overcome failures and they know that stumbling blocks are lessons to learn. They have already overcome problems and failures of their own and gone on to be successful.

willitara [at] gmail [dot] com

Betty C said...

Tweet - https://twitter.com/willitara/status/396920801321947136

willitara [at] gmail [dot] com

angie lilly said...

By working three different jobs to get thru college!
Angie
14earth at gmail dot com

angie lilly said...

I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/396983442488832001
Angie
14earth at gmail dot com

Harmony said...

No matter what the obstacles and there are many, I believe in myself and have picked myself up and keep striving for my dreams
njharmonyg@aol.com

Harmony said...

tweet https://twitter.com/hburmeister/status/397000323484491776
njharmonyg@aol.com

Dee said...

I believe in myself and achieve my dreams by understanding that what I have to contribute is of value and by surrounding myself with positive thoughts and, better yet, positive, supportive friends.

deeg131 at gmail dot com

Dee said...

tweeted https://twitter.com/DeeGee13/status/397087403359232000

deeg131 at gmail dot com

ms-texas said...

i have achieved my dreams through hard work and determination

debbiebellows (at) gmail (dot) com

ms-texas said...

i posted a tweet:

https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/397095065031413760


debbiebellows (at) gmail (dot) com

Tabathia B said...

My mother who believed in me and encouraged me to follow my dreams

tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

Tabathia B said...

tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/397113717361360897

tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

My parents taught me to believe in my self and I worked hard to achieve my dream.

rounder9834 @yahoo.com

Unknown said...

https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/397117659210190848

rounder9834 @yahoo.com

slehan said...

25 years ago I didn't think I could sing, but I took singing lessons, joined two choirs and have been singing ever since.
Thanks for the contest.

slehan at juno dot com

Anonymous said...

I try not to give up and to fight for what I want!


pokergrl8 at gmail.com

Anonymous said...

https://twitter.com/aes529/status/397150376131981312
pokergrl8 at gmail.com

slehan said...

https://twitter.com/slehan/status/397150812675141632

slehan at juno dot com

Anna Pry said...

when i was a single mom my dream was to be able to finish college which i did with determination and support from family pryfamily5@gmail.com

Anna Pry said...

i tweeted https://twitter.com/pryfamily5/status/397135394317533184 pryfamily5@gmail.com

Whitney said...

Confidence and ambition are always good

Whitney said...

https://twitter.com/electricstar/status/397216453620793344